


illustrations

by orphan_account



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Major character death - Freeform, Slight Violence, very vague brief mention of tinkerhook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-12 12:02:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1185992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several months after returning to the Enchanted Forest, Regina struggles to move on. The demons of the past few months weigh highly upon her, but she finds solace in an unlikely source; a five year old boy by the name of Roland Hood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drawing Conclusions

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: Several months after returning to the Enchanted Forest, Regina struggles to move on. The demons of the past few months weigh highly upon her, but she finds solace in an unlikely source; a five year old boy by the name of Roland Hood.  
> Beta read by my bestest friend, Raye, tumblr user regalevilpanda.

The war against the West was in full swing. Rumplestiltskin’s castle had become the headquarters of the former Storybrooke inhabitants, plus a select few allies, as they searched desperately for a way to defeat their enemies, namely an old enemy of Regina’s. The Wicked Witch of the West. She was nastier at her kindest than the Evil Queen had been at her worst. Such an evil and powerful enemy could only be stopped by one thing, in Regina’s mind. Magic.

If she needed magic, then she was in the perfect place to find a solution to her problem. Rumplestiltskin’s castle was home to many magic objects, including crystal balls and bottles of potions and more than deadly creatures in its dungeon than Regina could count, but one of the most impressive and important parts of it was the library.

Belle had taken refuge there when the Second Curse had hit, sobbing so harshly in mourning of her love that it echoed and could be heard throughout the entire West Wing. Supposedly the library had been built for her, as a gift from Gold. But as Belle’s grief had slowly lessened over the past few months, she spent less and less time in her precious library and became a valuable asset in their newfound war, a shock to everyone.

The queen made her way up the steps to the library, a woman on a mission to find a spell that could stop that damned Wicked Witch so that she could get back to her son. Henry. Yes, she was doing this for him.

I’ll find Henry, she thought, and get him to remember me.

The brunette strode across the large round room and examined the shelves, scanning for any spellbooks the Dark One may have left behind. She selected nearly a dozen books and spun on her heels to stride toward the giant mahogany table in the center of the room.

"Hi!"

Regina nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice, dropping her books onto the table with a loud thud. She recognized the voice, however, and rolled her eyes. She knelt down to look under the table and, sure enough, Roland was sitting under it, smiling up at her with his damn adorable big brown eyes. 

"You scared me half to death, Roland." scolded Regina. "Why do you insist on sitting under the table? There’s much more room aboveit.”

"I like to hide in case the bad Sheriff comes by." Roland explained. "Daddy says he hurted my Mama so I should stay away."

Regina gave the boy a pitiful smile and grabbed his hand to pull him to his feet. She knew what Roland was talking about. His father, Robin, had told her the story of what happened to Roland’s mother, Marian.

\- - -

They’d had an encounter with the Wicked Witch, resulting in far too many deaths to count. At that point all either one them wanted was sleep and exemptions from their pain, both physical and emotional.

The two passed a flask back and forth, drinking themselves blind in pitiful attempts at providing numbness to their situations. Regina was wrapped in a thin blanket and had made it out with only a sprained wrist and a cut on her forehead, but Robin had taken a full-force blow to the chest by an ogre’s club, successfully cracking two ribs and bruising a hell of a lot more.

The former outlaw laid slightly elevated by pillows on the floor ten feet from the fireplace, having offered his cot for a wounded Merry Man who now lay barely breathing with the pregnant princess, Aurora, dabbing his forehead with a wet rag. Robin looked horrible, a large bruise below his eye marred his normally attractive face, but he wouldn’t stop talking. It may have been the alcohol, or perhaps the fact that he was high on some pain relieving herb that one of the dwarves had been burning for the wounded, but Robin was revealing more about his life than Regina had ever wanted or needed to hear. She sat upright beside him, only wanting to watch the fire and avoid the petrifying events that had occurred only hours earlier.

"It was a slow-acting poison," Robin had said to her, as they sat, "she suffered for almost six months and the whole blasted thing, it was my fault, I did it to her. If I’d just…" Robin choked on his words as he found his courage to reveal the truth about his wife’s death. "She was engaged to him, the Sheriff. I could have let her go, marry that monster and be safe from everything; the threat of Prince John, the life of reckless thievery. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t bear the thought, her marrying him. Seeing them stand beside each other made me sick to my stomach, there was no chance I would let her be with anyone besides me. I was being selfish. Marian’s death is on my hands because I was too selfish to let her be with someone else."

Regina had simply nodded, staring into the fire and listening to his story. She heard and understood everything he said, but all she could think about was how much she wished this was all over. She just wanted her son. To see him, tell him how much she loved him, pull him close and just be near him, but that wasn’t an option.

"It wasn’t your fault." Regina said mindlessly. She hadn’t realized she’d said the words aloud until Robin looked at her and asked "What?"

She blinked for a moment, gathering her thoughts. “Your wife. Her death wasn’t your fault. The only one at fault is the one who poisoned her. Don’t place blame on yourself and beat yourself up for it. I blamed a young girl for a death she was only minutely responsible for, and let my life be consumed with revenge and for nothing. Absolutely nothing. Place blame where blame is due, Hood. Because if you don’t, you could end up sobbing over the body of someone you thought you hated like I just did.”

Regina snatched the flask from him with her uninjured hand and finished it off, throwing the piece of tin across the room where it crashed against the stone wall and echoed dramatically as it hit the ground, now dented.

"I never thought a day would come when I wished Snow White was alive."

\- - -

"Well, the Sheriff is nowhere around here right now. And I’m here to protect you if he decides to come looking for trouble", Regina comforted the boy.

Roland smiled, leaning down to pick up a piece of parchment and some pieces of colored wax that were basically the Enchanted Forest’s version of crayons. He placed his things on the table and climbed into a chair, resuming his art project with a bright smile on his face.

Roland and Regina had grown quite close in the few months that they had known each other. Roland had taken an immediate liking to her, calling her “the nice lady who likes horses and fire”, which had made her laugh. At first Regina had avoided him, because Roland reminded her too much of Henry, whom she desperately wanted to return home to. However, slowly but surely, she became used to his little head of dark brown curls popping up everywhere she went. Roland followed her around everywhere he could (there were some things she said she had to do alone, though, they were in the middle of a damned war, for gods’ sake) and Regina had grown fond of it.

She sat across the table from him, opening books and searching for something, anything, that might provide them an advantage in this god-awful war that they’d gotten into.

Regina managed a fraction of a smile as she remembered drawing as a child. It wasn’t an activity she’d often partake in; the slivers of colored wax she’d use would slowly start to soften and deform in her hands after being used too much. When Regina showed her mother her artwork, Cora became angry at her daughter’s vibrant green and blue colored hands, showing no interest in the crude childish illustration of their family riding horses that Regina had put so much time and effort into making for her. Looking back on it now, Regina realized that her mother hadn’t had a heart at that time. No wonder she never truly showed affection or motherly pride in her daughter. It was quite sad to think about, actually.

She noticed Roland glancing at her every few moments, squinting at her, practically gazing through her into her soul with his eyes, before quickly scribbling something down onto his parchment and repeating the process.

“Regina?” he said softly after several minutes of silence as she read and he drew.

She looked up from the pages of her eight spellbook that day, “Yes?”

“How do you write ‘Regina’?”, asked Roland.

“Why?” She questioned, curious.

“I want to write it.” The boy answered simply, looking down at his work. “I know it starts with a ‘R’ because it sounds the same at the beginning as ‘Roland’, but I don’t know the rest.”

Regina smiled. She leaned forward a bit, trying to catch a glimpse of what Roland had drawn, but he kept it covered with his arm, effectively staining his sleeve with colors. “Alright. Do you know all of the letters in the alphabet?”

“I know some. Like ‘R’ and ‘O’ and ‘A’ and ‘N’.”, he said proudly.

“Okay. Well, ‘Regina’ is spelt R-E-G-I-N-A.” explained Regina, enunciating each letter carefully. “Do you know all of those letters?”

Roland squinted a bit, “Umm, I dunno the one in the middle.”

“G?”

“Yeah, I dunno that one.”

“Okay, G looks like this…” she turned the spellbook to the last page, which was blank. Regina slowly traced a large lowercase G and turned it around so that Roland could see it.

He leaned way over the table to try and look at her example. “Oh, okay. I can do that.” Roland crawled back into his seat and picked up his piece of writing charcoal. “Can you tell me how to spell ‘Regina’ again, slower?”

“Sure,” Regina smiled at him.

“R…” He nodded.

“E…” Roland looked at his parchment and slowly wrote what Regina assumed must be an E on the page.

“G…” Roland carefully copied Regina’s example of a G onto his parchment.

“I…” He wrote an I.

“N…” Roland wrote an N.

“…and A.” Roland wrote the final letter, nodded, and tossed his charcoal aside, gathering his masterpiece into his little wax-stained hands. He gave it a quick once-over to make sure it was ready to show to Regina, then carefully placed it on top of the open book in front of her.

She could only stare at his little scribbled picture and think of how wonderful this little boy was. She smiled wider than she had in quite a while, looking at Roland who was staring at her in anticipation.

“Do you like it?” asked the boy excitedly.

“I love it, thank you.” Regina said, scooting back in her chair a bit and giving Roland room to climb onto her lap.

On his parchment, Roland had drawn three people; himself, his father and Regina. Beneath each stick figure, he’d written their names out in his slightly skewed five-year-old handwriting. Stick-figure Roland was holding what Regina assumed to be a sword, with a smile on his face. Stick-figure Robin smiled likewise, only his picture was larger to distinguish that Robin was taller then Roland and stick-figure Robin held a bow and arrow. Regina’s picture looked a bit different than the other two, which made sense because Roland had no experience drawing her and was trying to make her look as real as possible.

“What’s that in my hand?” Regina asked the boy on her lap, pointing at the orange squiggle above stick-figure Regina’s hand.

“It’s fire,” Roland turned to look her in the face. “like the magic fire you make to fight the bad people.”

“Is that so?” She raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh." He nodded. "Now can you show me how to write ‘family’?"

"Sure, but… why do you want to spell that?" inquired Regina.

"So I can put the title on my drawing!" Roland answered, grinning. He pointed at the large cloud across the top of the parchment. "I wanna write ‘My Family’ in the cloud. I can spell ‘my’, but I dunno how to do ‘family’."

Regina was speechless for a moment. This little boy, whom she’d only known for…what? Six months? Seven? He considered her his family.The thought of it sent a slight jolt through the queen, as she considered what that would mean.

She enjoyed Roland’s company, certainly. His father’s…not so much. Apart from their single encounter when she was slightly out of her mind and he was drunk and somewhat high, the two had never even shared a proper conversation together. The man was an terrible flirt; he was cocky and liked to shoot arrows two inches from her face just to show how adept he was at archery, if only to fuel his ego. To make it worse, Robin had taken a special interest in taunting her constantly, perhaps he was so accustomed to robbing kings and queens like herself that it came secondhand to be as infuriating as humanly possible towards her. 

And Regina had Henry to think about. She had to get back to him, get him to remember who she is, how much she loves him.

But this little boy had stirred something in her heart that she’d thought had been dormant. Roland was so much like Henry that once she’d even caught herself calling him by the wrong name. No one could ever replace Henry, of this she was sure, but did she have room to love another child as well? A child that had a loving father already? No, she couldn’t. Regina was not going to be Roland’s mother, no matter how nice the possibility sounded. For now, she’d settle for being his friend, who helped him write big words and praised him on his crude artwork.

That was all, at least until she got Henry back.

Regina snapped out of these thoughts as Roland handed her his charcoal pencil, absolutely beaming. Regina returned the smile and, below the letter G that she’d written for him, spelled the word “family”.

\- - -

It had to be around midnight, but Regina was fixated on searching every spellbook Rumplestiltskin had owed, desperately seeking anything that might aid the East in their efforts. If she had to curse this entire damned land, so be it. She would rain hellfire down on those twisted little demons the Wicked Witch used as minions. Damn monkeys.

Yes, Regina would be the Wicked Witch of the East if it meant this whole thing would end and she could resume her quest for her son. Anything for Henry.

Roland had left when Little John called him down for supper. Regina decided to skip eating that night until she found what she was looking for, even if that meant starving herself near to death. The queen was so focused on reading that she didn’t notice the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the creaky wooden staircase. She didn’t hear the person to whom the footsteps belonged either, until she felt a strong hand on her shoulder and spun around so quickly she nearly got whiplash.

"Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you," said Robin, pulling his arm back. "I’d just come to see if you were still here."

"You didn’t frighten me," Regina mumbled, trying to hide the fact that her heart was racing. "And I don’t need you checking up on me, I’m not a child."

"I’m aware of that, I simply wanted to know if you’d be interested in dinner. I didn’t see you downstairs with everyone else." Robin was being oddly patient with her. Normally, he’d have responded to her complaints with a sarcastic remark with sexual undertones just for the sake of pushing her buttons. "I thought maybe some food might help you think better."

Regina rolled her eyes and looked back to the book on the table before her, “I’m thinking perfectly fine, Hood. Just leave me be.”

The archer gritted his teeth and closed his eyes in irritation. “My apologies, your majesty. Please forgive me for showing you common courtesy. I’ll leave you to your thoughts,” Robin said, spinning on his heels and practically sulking out of the library.

Regina looked up upon hearing his comment and glared at him as he walked away. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she remarked.

"It means," The thief stopped and turned around to face her. "that you are the most insufferable, inconsiderate giant pain in the arse I’ve ever met." He took a step toward her with every word until he was glaring right back at her from six inches away.

Regina opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again. Instead, she pushed her chair abruptly out from under the table and stood, retaining eye contact with Robin.

“I’m the pain in the ass?” she echoed, as if he’d said something entirely absurd. Which, in her mind, he had. “That’s a laugh.”

"How so, your majesty?” Robin replied with just as much sass.

Gods, she hated it when he said her title like that. With such hatred and mocking. She’d never wanted that title, and having it held against her like Robin was doing infuriated her to no end.

"Don’t play innocent with me. You’ve been purposely driving me up the wall since I got here, with you constantly shooting arrows at my head, your smart-ass comments, and acting like I’mthe source of all of your problems when I’m trying to solve them!” Her eyes burned with absolute loathing and she moved in even closer to him, until their faces were practically touching. “All I’m doing, is trying to get out of here. I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here, so why don’t you do us both a favor and let me get back to this so I can go home to my son and we never have to see each other again.”

Robin locked his jaw and stared at her for a moment.

"Fine," he agreed, storming off. "And good riddance."

\- - -

The next morning, Robin awoke to small fingers poking him in the face.

The first thing he saw was Roland smiling down at him, crying “Daddy! Look!” and putting something directly in front of his eyes. Robin sat up and took the parchment from his son’s hands to examine it. The sun was still far from up, but the father and son had made it their own tradition to wake up before everyone else for archery practice; Roland had sworn that he would be shooting as well as Robin before summertime came around; not long considering that it was nearing the end of spring.

Roland studied his father’s face as he looked at his latest piece of art, searching for a reaction. Robin just stared at it, both disbelief and sadness building up in his chest.

"H…" Robin cleared his throat, the words forming a lump as he carefully traced the little colored scribbles with his finger. "Who’s that?” asked the outlaw, pointing at a subject on the page.

"That’s Mama," the little boy said simply, "before she gotted sick."

Robin nodded before he closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face.

This was not what he’d expected to wake up to. He turned and looked at his son. Just looking at him, all he could see was Marian. Roland looked just like her.

Robin was so grateful to whatever god made that possible; giving him his wonderful son, a new life to give him a reason to continue on every day, a reminder of his wife and the most amazing years of his life that he’d spent running with her, his precious, curious, free-spirited Roland. He had Marian’s dark eyes and hair, her lips and smile. Hell, all Roland had gotten from his father was a hero complex (which had caused more trouble than necessary when the toddler attempted to rescue an injured skunk from death by picking it up and carrying it through their camp).

"It’s wonderful, Roland," Robin began, "but how do you know what your mum looked like?" He didn’t want to say it aloud, but Marian had never even gotten to see Roland before her death. Unfortunately, that meant he’d never seen her, either.

"I saw her, in the big ball Regina showed me."

Robin almost cringed. Of course, Regina. He was beginning to have regrets about allowing his son to spend so much time with that woman. What in hell had possessed her to do something like show Roland his mother? He was definitely going to need to have a discussion with the so-called Evil Queen.

\- - -

He found her still in the library, head rested on an open book and apparently asleep. Had she been there all night?

Robin was uncertain of what to do; it was still somewhat early, the sun had barely risen and he figured that the queen would not take kindly to being woken up simply so that Robin could air his grievances with her.

Thankfully, the outlaw’s timing was perfect and Regina woke up herself only seconds later. She sleepily lifted her head off of the table and blinked at him.

“How long have you been standing there?” asked Regina in a dreamy haze.

“Only a moment,” Robin stated, stepping toward her. “I need to speak with you.”

“If it has any relation to the argument that ensued last night, I can assure you that I’m trying to resolve the situation,” said Regina in her usual sarcastic tone, “but getting out of here is going to take some time. Unless you happen to have a portal lurking about somewhere that you failed to disclose with anyone.”

Robin nodded once. “Noted. However…” He watched as Regina slowly stood up from her seat and stepped closer to him. “…that is not why I’ve come.”

“I see. Well, rather than waste time loitering about, why don’t you tell me why you are here and we can go our separate ways,” she replied.

The outlaw had to resist his urge to put her in her place with a witty retort and instead took a deep breath. “It’s about Roland.”

Regina furrowed her brow. “What about him?”

“I understand that you used some sort of magic,” Robin inhaled again between words, “to show him a vision of his mother.”

The queen’s expression was unreadable. “Yes. Your point?”

Robin gawked at her. “My point,” he stepped forward once more, now so close that he practically hovered over her, “is that you did that without my consent, and today Roland woke me up to show me a drawing of Marian.”

Regina held eye contact with him the entire time she spoke. “I still fail to see the problem,” she said.

“Oh, do you?” Robin squinted at her. “I don’t want you using any magic for my son, especially not to feed his mind with -”

“With what exactly?” Regina interrupted. “What could possibly be so terrible about a little boy seeing a memory of his mother? And I can assure you, I’ve made it a point to not use magic unless absolutely necessary, which this was.”

“Necessary?” snarled Robin. “How in hell was it necessary?”

Regina held eye contact with him, but said nothing.

The thief raised an eyebrow. “Go on; tell me how it was necessary to show Roland whatever it was that he saw.”

Rather than reply, the queen turned back to the table. She seemed to be looking for something. When she found it, she stared at it momentarily before putting the picture Roland had made for her into Robin’s hands. “Because he gave me this,” she said finally.

Robin looked at it. A piece of parchment. It was obviously one of Roland’s drawings, but he was surprised to see whom it was a drawing of.

“’My family’?” Robin read from the page, looking from the artwork to the woman in front of him. “This is Roland’s?”

“Of course,” Regina said. “This is why I showed him a vision of his mother. I didn’t want him having illusions of me being some sort of mother to him, so I gave him a glimpse at who his real mother was.”

Robin pressed his lips shut. He had not expected any explanation like this. He cleared his throat, trying to speak. “I’m… I’m not sure what to say,” he admitted.

“An apology would suffice,” said Regina, plucking the picture from his hands and replacing it on the table, “and if you have any more accusations to throw my way, please do let me wake up before interrogating me in that way you do so enjoy.”

Sarcasm dripped from her voice as easily as water would drip from a faucet. Robin stood, dumbfounded for a moment. “I – I do apologize. I should have listened to your explanation before jumping to conclusions like that.”

“You are forgiven,” Regina said curtly, “but if you’ll excuse me I’ve got to get back to searching for this damned spell.” She reseated herself at the table and opened a book for the thousandth time in twenty-four hours. The queen had nearly given up hope on ever finding some way to stop the witch, having no squid ink nor pixie dust as the Wicked Witch had sealed off the diamond mines, effectively cutting off the fairies’ supply.

Robin nodded and moved as if to leave, but stopped short upon seeing Regina’s fallen expression. Uncertain, he observed her for a moment, but the queen remained still. She leaned on her elbows for support, face buried in her hands. Robin was shocked, for the weakest he had ever seen this woman was when she was drunken and angry and grieving Snow White, but even then she’d held her head high and gritted through it.

Regina must have assumed that he’d gone, because she sat up straight after a minute or so and looked in his general direction. Her sad expression turned into shock, followed quickly by irritation. “What are you still doing here?” she asked, standing.

The thief remained quiet, searching for an answer. Rather than speak, he strode toward her, examining her face.

“Why must you pretend that you’re such an emotionless monster?” Robin asked quietly, now directly in front of the queen.

Regina was taken aback.

“I don’t,” said the queen stubbornly, “Did you ever think that, perhaps, I simply am an emotionless monster?”

“No,” he answered without hesitation, “I’ve seen it, when you thought no one was looking. The way your eyes light up when you talk about your son…” Robin trailed off for a second, judging Regina’s reaction. She had moved away slightly as he’d said the word son. The outlaw didn’t realize what he was doing until he’d put his index finger under her chin to force her to look at him.

Regina, for a reason she herself did not understand, let him.

“…and the regret,” Robin continued, “when you hear Snow White’s name.”

The queen’s eyes flickered for a moment, as if echoing Robin’s words with her actions. The two stood so closely now that they were practically pressed together.

“The way you look at Roland,” said Robin, his bright blue eyes looking down into her soft brown ones. “Like he’s a wonderful gift that you don’t think you’re deserving of.” He suddenly was leaning closer to her, drawn in by a strong, unknown force that he would later find himself wondering about. He studied Regina as he did, surprised that she wasn’t pulling away. From all he’d seen of the so-called Evil Queen, Robin had expected her to yank herself away and scream at him, or possibly turn him into a newt.

“The way,” Robin’s speech was firm and at the same time breathless, “your heart is beating faster right now.” And with that, he leaned in another two inches and kissed her.

The queen raised her hands to his shoulders, finding herself unable to remove herself from Robin’s warm presence, her mind racing with every word he had said. Whether she intended to push him away or pull him closer, she was uncertain. Robin kissed her gently and slowly, a way that Regina hadn’t been kissed since… well, since Daniel.

Robin moved his hand from her chin into her hair, attempting to deepen the kiss before Regina pulled away and he lost this one, glorious opportunity. Gods, he’d wanted to kiss her for so long now, and if this was the only time he’d ever be able to, then he was going to make it a good one.

But when Regina kissed him back, Robin could swear that the world around them crumbled into a billion tiny pieces as Regina wrapped her arms around his neck.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The couple was interrupted by the pounding of footsteps approaching quickly up the stairs. A familiar voice cried out, before the two pulled apart and turned toward the sound.

“Regina!” Grumpy gasped, nearly collapsing onto the ground after running up the long flight of stairs. “Robin, you’re here too, thank the gods.”

Robin and Regina both took a step away from each other, trying to hide what they’d been doing.

Grumpy continued, panting. “Tinkerbell…she’s back,” said the dwarf. “Regina, you need to see this.”

\- - -

Tinkerbell was on cloud nine, flying circles around Rumplestiltskin chandelier in the large main hall of his castle. She’d just been given her wings back, and oh, how she’d missed them! Tink had taken to asking everyone for anything she might be able to help with, wanting any reason at all to be able to use her wings.

Regina smiled at her from the archway that led from the main corridor to the bedrooms, all of which were being occupied by Merry Men, soldiers and citizens alike. The citizens of Storybrooke had decreased dramatically in numbers since their arrival in the Enchanted Forest the month prior; a tragic side effect of their war with the West. They had once had over three thousand civilians; now, there were less than five hundred.

The queen had tried her hardest to protect them, for she knew that saving her townspeople was what Henry would want. When she made it back to him, he would be proud of her. Regina had cast a protective shield in a three-mile radius around Rumplestiltskin’s castle. It wasn’t much area to work with, considering that they couldn’t leave the perimeter, even to find food or water. Unless, of course, they wanted to be sliced open upon trying to re-enter their fortification.

Mulan had asked Regina why the barrier had to be so small; food would soon grow scarce as they had limited land to feed off of, and they were still too great in numbers to possibly fit comfortably in the confines of their shelter. Regina had simply told her that the larger the shield, the weaker it would be.

“If it were any bigger,” she’d explained, irritated, “you could cut it open like an apple and walk right through. And I imagine that would be much worse, don’t you think?”

So far they’d all gotten by on what they could scavenge and whatever Regina could conjure up magically, but that could only go on so far. All magic came with a price, and the price of providing nourishment for a thousand people was Regina’s health. Every loaf of bread she created leeched on her energy, and eventually Robin had ordered that she stop or risk killing herself from the exertion.

Tink noticed Regina and slowly floated down to stand beside her, smiling.

“Glad to be a fairy again?” asked Regina.

“Oh, yes.” Tink nodded. “I was just warming my wings up for the long journey tomorrow. I’ve got an awful lot riding on me, and I want to be in and out as quickly as possible.”

Regina smiled slightly brighter. “That’s great,” she encouraged her friend, “for you and for me.”

Tink’s expression softened more than usual. “I’ll try my hardest to return soon. I hope for your sake that you take Robin’s advice -”

Regina tensed as she said Robin’s name. He’d been such a thorn in her side lately. The outlaw had insisted that all he wanted was a safe environment for his son, but from all that Regina had seen of the man, he was nothing but a flirtatious, leather-clad pain in the backside. She remembered her first actual conversation with the man, after he’d tried to shoot her in the head with his stupid arrows.

\- - -

“What the hell?” cried Regina, jumping backward. She snapped her head toward the direction the arrow had come from, noting the contempt smirk on Hood’s stupid face as he lowered his bow. “You could have hit me.” she fumed.

“I never miss.” He grinned, striding toward her. “It’s just so difficult to get your attention.”

Regina flared her nostrils at him, that cocky, aggravating thief who’d seemed happy spending his days doing nothing but tormenting her. “And you thought the best way to get it would be to nearly kill me?”

“As I said, m’lady,” he gave her that shit-eating grin again, “I never miss.”

“It’s hard to miss when you shoot at nothing and call whatever you hit the target.” She remarked.

“Ah, you see, that’s where you’re mistaken.” said the archer, “In fact, would you care to make a friendly wager?”

Regina scoffed. “With a bandit like you? I don’t think so.”

“Shame.” Robin honestly looked disappointed, but he masked it as he continued to speak. “But watch as I prove you wrong nonetheless.”

Robin nocked an arrow with a practiced precision and speed, aiming it toward the corner of the room farthest from them.

“I’ll knock that painting off the far wall in a single shot.” He gloated.

Regina rolled her eyes. She could see the painting, barely the size of her head, held up by thin wires on a hook in the wall, which was about twenty yards away down the long room. There was no way he could make that shot with a dozen tries, much less one. “Alright. Do it, and I will admit that I was wrong – which I most certainly am not.” This was going to be hilarious.

Robin smiled, setting up his target, tightening the bowstring as he pulled it back with his gloved hands. Without another word, he released.

The arrow whizzed through the air, hitting the wire of the painting and effectively knocking it to the ground.

The queen stared, mouth closed. Robin smiled down at her.

Regina opened her mouth to speak, but closed it once more. Her eyes flickered to the outlaw’s, back to the painting on the ground, back to Robin.

“Fine.” she submitted. “You made the shot.”

Robin waited. “And…”

“And nothing,” said Regina. “You made the shot.”

Robin began to laugh as she stalked away angrily. Regina assumed he was laughing at her embarrassment.

But, what was actually running through the thief’s mind was, she’s adorable when she’s flustered.

\- - -

“Regina?” Tink called. “Are you paying attention?”

The brunette blinked, suddenly aware of her surroundings again. “Oh, can you repeat that?”

“I said,” the fairy stated exasperatedly, “That I hope you can take Robin’s advice and refrain from using magic until we retrieve this device you mentioned.”

Regina barely managed not to roll her eyes. Tink smirked.

“Now, I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ll need to know everything there is to know about this object I’m needed to find. And how precisely I’m to sneak into your castle while it’s guarded by those blasted flying apes.” said the fairy.

The queen sighed. “Alright. You’re going to want to write this all down.”

Tink nodded, but remained silent and waited for Regina to continue.

“You need to find a cup. It’s a special one, it’ll allow anyone who drinks from it to receive immeasurable strength.” Regina began, but Tink cut her off.

“Wait, a cup you said? Are you talking about the Holy Grail? I thought it was in Camelot, guarded by Merlin’s ghost in a sealed stone tomb or some rubbish. How do you have it?” asked the fairy.

“It’s not the Holy Grail.” Regina said. “There’s more than one magic cup in the land.”

Tink shrugged.

“Anyway, the cup was in my old vault. I took most of my magic items with me to Storybrooke, but it should still be there.” She continued.

“Unless the Witch took it…” Tink interrupted again.

Regina pursed her lips. “…in which case we’re all doomed.”

“That’s bloody fantastic,” said Tinkerbell sarcastically. “How’d you suppose I get myself in and out without being seen? I’m not exactly the most inconspicuous person, a bright green light in a pitch black monkey-infested castle.”

“That’s where things get tricky.” Regina said, striding to the gigantic table at the center of the room. She lifted a small scroll off of it for Tink to see. “I’m going to have to put a spell on you.”

\- - -

“Tinkerbell!” Regina called out upon seeing the fairy’s broken form. “Tink, what happened?”

Tink laid upon a cot, looking disoriented and horribly pale. Blue was beside her, wand in hand, magically searching the blonde for any sort of healable injury.

“Regina,” Tink said, blinking at her friend.

“What happened to you?” Regina asked again, kneeling beside the fairy and examining her slightly sunken eyes, wild hair and confused expression.

“The Witch,” she said, eyes widening. “I tried that disguising potion you gave me. It worked on the monkeys, but not on her. She could see right through it.”

Regina averted her eyes from the young fairy, feeling guilty about not foreseeing the Witches tricks.

“She stopped me,” Tink continued. “She chained me down so that I couldn’t fly. I thought she was going to kill me.”

Regina placed her hand over Tink’s, looking her straight in the eyes.

“I’m so sorry.” The queen apologized. “But how did you escape?”

“Hook.” Tink breathed. “Hook…he was there. I asked him why he was in your castle, working for the Witch. He said ‘because I’ve got my priorities in order, unlike some’. I asked what that meant, but he didn’t answer. He unlocked my chains, showed me to the cup and a way out.”

Regina narrowed her eyes in thought. Hook had bailed on them nearly the second they returned to the Enchanted Forest, run off who-knows-where without a single word to anyone. Everyone had assumed that he’d been killed, or at least captured by the Witch. But working with her? That, Regina had not seen coming.

“I’ll let you get some rest.” Regina snapped out of her thoughts and turned back to her friend. “Grumpy said you would be fine, just a bit sore for a few days. You took an awful blow to the head when you flew through the window,” Regina stood quietly, looking to the Blue Fairy, who only nodded at her once.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” The queen said as she turned and walked out the door. She hoped the fairies hadn’t noticed the strain in her voice, or the hot tears gathering in her glassy brown eyes.


	2. Seeing Green

Regina shut the heavy oak door behind her, turning into the wide hallway with no particular destination in mind. Robin, who had been standing outside the door, reached out toward her and grabbed her arm. The queen spun around to look at him, unable to continue walking with his gentle but strong grip on her.

“Regina.” He breathed her name so softly that she could barely hear it.

“What do you want, bandit?” Regina snapped angrily, but avoiding eye contact.

Robin loosened his hold on her wrist. “I just want to speak with you, about that k –“

“That,” she interrupted, yanking her arm from him and stepping back, “was a mistake, and one that I can assure you I will not make again.”

The outlaw pressed his lips together and looked away. Regina took the opportunity to stomp down the hall and get as far away from Robin as she physically could.

Robin watched her as she disappeared down another corridor, chest aching from a vaguely familiar pressure that had settled in his heart. Her words replayed in his mind on an endless loop. It was like his own mind was mocking him. Surely, Regina saw him as more than a terrible thief. Surely, she knew that their kiss hadn’t been a mistake. At least, to him it hadn’t.

 _That damn woman is going to be the death of me,_ Robin thought.

Then he raised his head high and practically strutted down the hall, mind still on the queen that had consumed his every thought over the past six months.

\- - -

Regina headed outside to take in some or the fresh air, still sharp and chilled as the sun had only barely risen. She hadn’t intended to go to the stables. In fact, the stables were probably the place she would least like to be. Too many memories, made worse in combination with the thoughts of Robin swimming through her brain.

But she found herself at the stables anyway.

Rumplestiltskin’s horses had been adopted – another word for stolen, Regina remembered thinking upon her return to the Dark One’s palace – by the Merry Men shortly after the first Curse had hit. They’d treated them well, with more love than the imp himself had provided, but the men were…men. They paid no attention to the fact that horse stalls needed to be mucked daily, that horses needed to be brushed and washed.

Perhaps it was her lifelong affinity for the creatures, but she constantly found herself using magic to clean up around the stables every now and again, just to make sure it was done properly.

Only three horses resided there; it left the entire area feeling empty as the stables could shelter up to twenty. Four had been taken down by flying monkey attacks.

Regina frowned at the thought of any person dying at the hands of a damn ape. It was indignant, and death was far too serious to be anything other than honorable and with head held high. Her mind flashed to Daniel. His death had been unexpected. It wasn’t honorable, but at least it was fairly quick and he hadn’t begged or pleaded for mercy. He’d just stood before his killer, her own mother, and stared in shock as his life was turned quite literally to ash right before his eyes.

Then she thought of Snow. It was odd, thinking of Snow White with kindness. With love. Remembering the woman’s death pained her, and it broke something inside Regina that even remembering Daniel hadn’t. She remembered Snow’s face, looking up at her with wide, teary green eyes.

\- - -

_Regina was silent, hearing her speak her final words. They were a choked cry of her daughter’s name, a wish to see Emma again that could never come true. Regina found herself sobbing as she saw the light fade from those green eyes, cradling Snow’s head to her chest and whispering to herself the same words of denial; Not Snow, not her, no._

_Robin was tugging on her arm and calling her name, screaming that she had to cut her losses and run before the Witch caught up to them. The air was thin and cold, the sky cloudy enough that it blocked her view of every single star. Grumpy’s bellows of anger and pain could be heard in the distance as he slayed a nasty troll, naming off each of his fallen comrades as he took another life in their honor. “For Charming! For Sneezy! For Bashful!”_

_Regina felt empty. She’d watched Snow lose the love of her life just hours before, now she stood with the woman’s body in her arms. Her tears became silent as she looked up at Robin, only vaguely registering the giant bump below one of his eyes, now blackened. Regina said nothing as she carefully placed Snow’s limp form on the dirt, closing her stepdaughter’s eyes and folding her hands over her stomach. Then, the queen stood tall, turned to Robin and nodded. He nodded back in response, murmured his condolences and grabbed her wrist as he dragged her along behind him toward Regina’s castle and the Wicked Witch who was residing there._

\- - -

She heard a scuffling sound behind her and wiped away a tear before she spoke. “Are you here for a specific purpose or do you just enjoy loitering about?” Regina said, not turning around.

“Regina?” replied a small voice.

The queen spun around to see little Roland, hair mussed and green cloak uneven. She remembered Henry at that age; waking up at the crack of dawn to see what adventures awaited him that day, hair growing long and messy because he refused to let her cut it. He was always so happy, never wanting to miss a moment of what he thought was the most beautiful, perfect world that could ever be.

Perhaps seeing that same innocence in Roland was what had made her love that little boy so much. Roland knew that they were in a war, but Regina didn’t think he knew what that actually meant. To him, everything was simple to see; there was a mean Witch that wanted to hurt people, and it was his father and Regina’s job to stop her. Sometimes, everyone would leave the castle dressed in armor and carrying weapons and the group would return with less people than had left. Roland didn’t know what happened to those people. Perhaps he assumed they’d joined the Witch, or had simply decided to leave. Roland didn’t seem able to comprehend the idea of death, although he’d been around it for quite literally his entire life. Regina remembered once, a few weeks after the loss of Snow White, when Roland asked her a question that made her realize just how terrible all of this death must be for the boy.

\- - -

_Roland had been playing with his wooden horse on the floor while Regina watched him happily. He made vague neighing sounds with his mouth, sometimes lifting the toy into the air as if the horse could fly. His question came from nowhere._

_“Regina,” he’d asked, looking up to her with big brown eyes. “Did you see my Mama in the land you were in?”_

_She gaped at him, unsure of what to say. “Well…no.” Regina finally responded, “No, I didn’t see her.”_

_“Oh.” Was all Roland replied with, looking back down to his toy. He was quiet for a moment, then he said, “Daddy told me she was in a place far away, and I dunno where that is.”_

_Regina bit the inside of her cheek. “Well, there are lots of places far away, lots of lands she could be in.” She said. It felt like a lie on her lips, but her words were technically true._

_“Do you know what land she’s in?” Roland questioned excitedly. “Daddy said I can’t see her ‘til I’m ready, but I’m ready and I don’t know where to find her.”_

_The queen shifted herself on the floor, moving closer to the boy. “I’m not sure where she is,” she admitted, “but I know that your mother is out there somewhere she wants to see you, but it’s not your time yet.”_

_“When is it my time?” Roland whined, setting his horse aside as their conversation took more of his attention. “I wanna see my Mama. I miss her.”_

_Regina hesitated as she thought her next words through carefully, a slight lump forming in her throat. “Roland…” She put his chin between her fingers and leaned in close to look him softly in the eyes as she once did with Henry. “I know you miss her. Your mother is in a special place that only certain people can go to. You’ll understand when you’re older, but for now just know that she’s watching you,” Roland was frowning now, “and she loves you. You just have to be patient.”_

_“I don’t like being patient.” Roland said simply, picking up his toy once more._

_Regina managed to crack a smile. “I don’t either.”_

_Neither of them knew that Robin had heard their whole conversation from the hall, and was wiping a tear from his eye as they said this._

\- - -

“Regina?” Roland repeated, seeing the woman’s distant expression.

“Oh, yes?” The queen said, snapping out of her thoughts.

Roland walked toward one of the occupied horse stalls. “Can we go for a ride?” he asked, looking straight up so that he could see the horse’s head.

Regina managed a small smile. “Sure.”

\- - -

One of the few good things about being in the Enchanted Forest again was that Regina could use magic without worrying about the terrible side effects that were in Storybrooke. Magic was different there; it seemed that the price of magic was far higher there are well.

Regina quickly changed into her riding clothes before lifting Roland onto the bare back of the Arabian stallion. Chadwick, Roland had said its name was.

The queen hefted herself up to sit behind Roland, collecting the reigns in her hands and leaning in close to the small boy to make sure he would be secure.

They rode at a steady trot until they reached a clearing. The translucent purple of their protective shield could be seen in the distance, a visual reminder that they were all trapped there. Regina pushed that from her mind as they sped into a gallop and Roland squealed with delight.

Regina could’ve sworn she was eighteen again. Her hair had gotten longer since her return to the Enchanted Forest, when she’d cut it short. Long hair was too troublesome; it was one thing the Second Curse had brought back that she definitely didn’t miss.

But now it flowed behind her just a bit, occasionally blowing in her eyes just enough to irritate her. Roland’s laugh filled her ears as they turned around in preparation to make another lap around the big, open field.

Regina pulled on Chadwick’s reigns to make him stop as she saw another horse and rider thirty feet before them.

Robin grinned at the queen and his son, riding up beside the two. “Excellent riding, m’lady.” He complimented.

She refused to look him in the eye, their…interaction earlier still fresh in her mind. “Thank you.”

“Although,” Robin continued, “not quite as good as me.”

Regina let out a laugh and looked him in the eye for a split second. “You keep telling yourself that.”

“Oh, you don’t believe me?” The outlaw smirked, “What’s say we race then, prove who the better rider is?”

The queen bit her tongue for a moment, weighing her options. She could decline, obviously, but Robin would argue that she knew she’d lose. Her ego was far too great for that.

With a sigh, Regina agreed.

\- - -

_The first time the queen and the outlaw met, there was an ambush._

_Upon their return to the Enchanted Forest, the Storybrooke inhabitants had all kept together. Snow had been the one to suggest it, and of course her charming prince had agreed._

_The group ran into Phillip and a four-months-pregnant Aurora only a few hours later. The couple, being as generous as they were, had offered to accompany them on their walk to Rumplestiltskin’s castle._

_“Much has changed since you last left, Snow.” Aurora warned as they walked, cradling her stomach subconsciously._

_Regina stood a few feet ahead of the women, close enough to hear but not so close that they might try to include her in the conversation._

_Snow raised an eyebrow. “Changed? How much could the land change in only a few months?”_

_Aurora’s eyes shifted around the woods. The sun was beginning to set, and the princess chose her next words carefully, as if she was afraid she may be overheard._

_“There’s been… a new queen in control in your old kingdom. I don’t think she’ll take kindly to your return,” said Aurora._

_Snow was perplexed. “What do you mean? Surely once Charming and I make it back she’ll step down. Who is this woman?”_

_“She’s not,” Aurora looked up into the trees surrounding them, eyes darting, “a woman, exactly.”_

_A deafening screech ripped through the air and reverberated through the crowd. They covered their ears with their hands as the terrible high pitched screams echoed in the surrounding silence of the forest._

_Phillip and Charming, who had been at the rear of the group helping along those who were at risk of being left behind, ran to their wives as soon as the screeches stopped._

_Aurora and Phillip were now aware of what the sound was and what it meant, but everyone else was confused._

_“DUCK YOUR HEADS DOWN AND RUN TO THE GATES!” Phillip bellowed at the top of his lungs. His voice was hoarse, like he’d been doing a lot of yelling recently. “QUICKLY!”_

_Regina got out of the way of the citizens as they took the prince’s orders, but she remained still as she searched the sky for whatever the sound had come from. “What the hell was that?” Regina asked._

_“Flying monkeys!” Aurora wailed, chin quivering and arms folded over her baby bump protectively._

_The queen wasn’t sure she’d heard right over the crying of the fleeing crowd. “Flying WHAT?”_

_Her question was answered by a giant swooping figure just inches above her head, followed by a screech that was less loud but equally as high as previously._

_Instinctively, Regina tightened her fingers and shot a bolt of cobalt lightning through the air at the creature. It twitched in midair for a moment before falling straight down with a crash into a tree._

_“Regina!” Snow said the woman’s name with an accusing tone._

_“There’s more!” Charming alerted, pointing to a large, dark mass approaching them._

_There were a lot more._

_Regina flared her nostrils at the oncoming threat. “I’ll take care of this.”_

_She curled her fingers into her fists and Snow could see blue sparks lighting up her stepmother’s fingertips._

_“No, Regina, wait!” Snow advised. “You might make the situation worse! Don’t threaten them!”_

_The queen paid her no attention as she raised her arms and lightning once more expelled from her hands._

_As the large black shape in the sky made contact with the magic electricity, the group on the ground could see it dissipate as a majority of the mass fell from the sky into the trees a hundred yards away._

_Regina repeated her actions until she could no longer she anything airborne approaching them._

_She lowered her arms and looked to Snow. “I told you I would take care of it,” she snapped._

_“LOOK OUT!” Aurora screamed, ducking as low as she could._

_Regina felt the force of three hundred pounds of winged primate hit her in the back, angled just right to send her flying through the air._

_Thankfully, she hit the ground forty feet away and not with a tree to the face. Unfortunately, she slammed her head on a large stone as she landed. Her vision blurred, and Regina could hear the faint sound of someone calling her name in combination with the fierce ringing in her ears._

_Flying monkeys were now circling overhead like vultures, some dove down at sharp angles trying to snatch up people. Regina assumed that the townsfolk had made it back to Rumplestiltskin’s castle, because she didn’t see any monkeys flying away with small children in their hands. Or were they claws?_

_Unable to move as pain shot up her back and right arm, Regina incoherently watched the scene play out before her. She slipped in and out of consciousness, but was somehow able to make out what was happening._

_A group of men burst from the trees with bows at the ready. They shot off the vicious creatures each with a single shot._

_The noise slowly started to die down. The threat must have been neutralized because a few minutes later, Regina saw a dark green figure walking closer to her. The sun was now well below the horizon, making it hard to define his features, especially with the hood he wore over his head._

_He stooped down in front of her, looking her over for injuries. She was sure she had many._

_The man slipped his hood off and examined Regina’s face. Her eyes kept closing although she tried her hardest to stay awake and maintain a semblance of control over herself and the situation._

_Pale blue eyes stared softly into her brown ones. “Don’t worry. You’ll be alright.” The man spoke with a bit of gravel to his voice, masked further by his accent. “My name’s Robin. Welcome home, your Majesty.”_

_Everything went black as Regina’s body finally went into shock from her head trauma._

\- - -

“You cheated!” Regina accused, bursting through the front doors of the palace. She was frustrated, more with herself for not foreseeing Robin’s tricks than she was with Robin for pulling the tricks at all.

“Ah, but I didn’t,” Robin explained, smiling like an idiot. The man’s ego was nearly as great as Regina’s; she had to give him credit for that, at least. “For it to be cheating,” Robin continued, “there has to be breaking of an established set of rules. As far as I can remember, your only condition was ‘the first one to ride to the garden wall and back’.”

The queen flared her nostrils at him. Damn cheating thief, she thought. “I believe there is an unspoken rule about not shooting your opponent, bandit.”

“I didn’t shoot you; I simply fired an arrow in your direction.” Robin smirked. “If I’d meant to harm you, I’d have done it quite some time ago. The first time we met, or the day I displayed my impeccable marksmanship.” He gestured to the wall opposite him at the painting he’d once shot straight off the hook.

Regina raised her chin high and crossed her arms. The outlaw took a step closer to her and dropped his voice so that only she could hear. “Perhaps that night in the woods…”

She reacted to his words and gravelly whisper by raising her hands to his shoulders and forcefully pushing him away from her.

“You have no control over my livelihood, thief.” said Regina, looking around to be certain nobody was eavesdropping. “And how do you even remember that?”

Robin kept his low pitched voice as he leaned forward again, closer this time and whispered into her ear. He was so close that Regina could feel his warm breath on her jaw, smell his natural musk of pine. “There are some things a man cannot even fathom forgetting.”

With that, he pushed past her and strode down the hall. Looking all too pleased with himself, thought Regina.

\- - -

_“I don’t need your help, bandit.” Regina snapped, stomping through the pine needles that covered the ground of the forest. The light from the torch in her hand flickered, the cool wind of the night causing the fire to billow. The queen struggled to see in front of her, the same wind blowing straight into her eyes and obstructing her vision in the pitch back of night._

_Robin continued to speak anyway. “Oh, I think you do, your Majesty. You’re just far too much of a stubborn ass to admit it.”_

_Regina spun on her heels. She opened her mouth to speak but could say nothing as she gawked at his audacity. The queen briefly considered turning him into a frog and throwing him down a well or something. That’d be quite a fun way of teaching him not to speak to her out of turn. However, she brushed the thought away. Unfortunately, she did need him. And he was right; she was too proud and stubborn to admit it. Not that she’d ever say it aloud._

_“And you,” Regina finally retorted, “are an arrogant thief who seems to find far too much pleasure in ruining my day.” She turned away from him and once again started walking through the brush. “Why did you volunteer to come, anyway, if I’m such a stubborn ass?”_

_Robin shrugged although Regina was facing the opposite direction and couldn’t see it. “Perhaps I simply wanted the pleasure of your company.”_

_The queen rolled her eyes. “Or perhaps you saw the opportunity to follow me around and antagonize me in that way that you seem to enjoy so much.”_

_“Both options are distinct possibilities” said Robin as the corners of his mouth bent up in a smile._

_“You’re incorrigible,” she replied._

_“Not true, your Majesty.” Robin said. “You might find that, if you would set your prejudices aside, I’m quite a delight, actually.”_

_Regina could feel his stupid smirk without even looking at him._

_“I’m not the prejudiced one here.” she said, stopping for a moment to face the outlaw again. “And you really should stop with the ‘your Majesty’ bit. It’s a legitimate title; don’t make a mockery of it.”_

_“My apologies, your Majesty,” said Robin. He’s obviously just trying to get under my skin, Regina thought._

_“Wait!” Robin warned suddenly, rushing forward and grabbing Regina’s arm._

_In her surprise, Regina dropped her torch and stumbled a bit as she turned around. It landed flame-first into a puddle of mud and the fire went out with a slight hiss._

_“What the hell -” Regina began, but was cut off by the outlaw putting his hand over her mouth and pushing her backward._

_The queen was in quite a compromising position at the moment; she knew that using magic would alert the Wicked Witch of her presence and position, but now Regina was faced with the problem of being trapped in Robin Hood’s arms, in the dead of night and the isolation of the forest._

_Regina felt her back hit something large and rough, a tree most likely. Robin was silent as he pressed her against it with his hand still prohibiting her from speaking._

_Her right arm was free and she pressed it to Robin’s chest and tried to shove him away from her. With magic, she could get him away easily. But for now she was armed with only a knife in her boot and her own hands; definitely not enough to fight off Robin, who was much bigger than she._

_“Quiet,” the outlaw whispered. “Someone’s coming.”_

_At his warning, Regina relaxed a bit. At least he’d had a purpose to this nonsensical position he’d put them both in._

_Robin slowly took his hand from her mouth and looked to his left. The moon provided enough light to make out vague outlines, but he could see no movement nearby._

_Regina tried to push him away again, but the bandit still had a firm hold on her left wrist. “Get off of me,” she hissed._

_“Shh!” He said, not moving._

_Suddenly, Regina heard the snapping of a twig nearby and jumped slightly._

_“Well, what have we here?” said a sultry voice. Robin finally peeled himself off of Regina as he spun toward the sound. There was no one there._

_“It’s lovely to see you again, Regina dear.” The voice said. It was definitely a woman’s voice, a bit high with an accent that was distinctly English._

_Robin removed his bow from where it rested on his shoulders and nocked an arrow. He didn’t have a target, so he pointed it toward the ground and remained on alert while the woman’s voice continued to speak._

_“Although I’m sure you don’t remember me.” It continued, “But you are not one I’d soon forget.”_

_The wind picked up and blew so hard the trees shook and Regina thought it might knock her over._

_A brilliant flash blinded the queen and the outlaw who had no choice but to turn their heads away from the light._

_“Hello again,” said the voice, this time directly from its owner._

_Regina stared at the woman. She was dressed all in black with a crooked hat that came to a point so sharp it could kill someone. Her hair was red, tucked into the hat with loose strands falling out in random places. She looked like she didn’t take proper care of herself; her clothes were dirty with what appeared to be soot, and Regina thought she saw a spider crawl up the woman’s neck from her cloak into her hair._

_But her most prominent feature was her skin; it was a sickly green color that made Regina realize just who this woman was. The Wicked Witch._

_“Oh, Robin, you can put that down.” The green woman chided, looking to the outlaw._

_Robin kept his bow aimed straight at the Witch. “I’d rather not, m’lady.” His words were polite enough, but his tone was steely and at the same time sarcastic. Not only did he not intend to lower his weapon, he intended to fire._

_But the Witch didn’t take kindly to this comment. She waved her hand and Robin’s bow instantly turned to green smoke that dissipated in his hands. “I’m afraid I wasn’t asking, my sweet.”_

_Robin hurried to stand in front of Regina, who was now mentally preparing herself for a battle of magic and wits._

_“Oh, how lovely.” The Witch took a step toward the couple with a smile. “He’s quite protective of you. Can’t imagine why.” She cackled like she’d just made the cleverest of inside jokes with herself as Regina pushed Robin away. She didn’t need him to be a human shield, she could manage herself just fine._

_“Now Robin, I suggest you leave the lady and I in private. We’ve much to discuss.” The Witch smiled evilly._

_“Not a chance.” Robin argued._

_“What an attractive hero complex he’s got.” The Witch said to Regina, grinning. “That’s where his son gets it from.” She took another step closer. “You have met him, haven’t you? Little Roland. Such a sweet boy, it’s a shame about his mother.”_

_Regina flinched. This nasty woman knew about Roland. She must’ve been watching the little boy for god knows how long, preparing for this moment when she could use him against the queen._

_Robin however, was absolutely outraged. He pulled a knife from his belt and hurled it at the Witch, always having been better with long range weapons._

_The knife hit the tree behind the where the green woman was and lodged there. The Witch had disappeared with another cackle just before the blade would have sliced open her neck, making Robin bellow in anguish._

_“Until next time, dear,” said the Witch’s disembodied voice. “For now your fairy friend and I have lots to talk about.”_

_“And Regina,” Suddenly, the Witch was standing three feet behind the queen with an expression of pure hatred. “Here’s something to think about.”_

_The Witch’s next words were said through gritted teeth as she leaned in closely. The spider Regina had seen earlier was now on the brim of the Witch’s hat, and it dropped down on its fine silken thread in an effort to make a new web._

_Regina steeled her gaze as she looked at the grotesque green woman. The Witch’s mouth curled up on one end, an evil smile that Regina recognized after perfecting it herself._

_“Remember my words, dear. No good deed goes unpunished. It’s a rule that applies to the light hearted and the dark. You can’t escape misery. You can only embrace it, as I have.”_

_The Witch took a step back and snapped her fingers. On cue, Robin dropped like a rock onto the ground. Regina ran to him, checking to see if he was breathing._

_“He’ll be fine, of course.” The Witch said. “I wouldn’t dare harm such a pretty face as his without proper motivation. He’ll wake up in a few minutes with no memory of this encounter.”_

_“Why are you doing this?” Regina asked. She stood tall as usual, fury behind her brown eyes as she spoke to the Witch with a familiar confidence._

_“You’ll remember, in due time,” said the Witch, “as will the outlaw. For now, it’s best that neither of you know.” She held out her hand and suddenly a pitch-black broom appeared in it. The Witch straddled the broom and Regina watched as the green woman began to hover in the air, rising higher and higher. “But do remember my words, Regina. No good deed!”_

_With a final cackle, she was off, flying away on her broomstick leaving the queen behind with an unconscious Robin Hood and no idea what was going on._

\- - -

Regina found herself back in the library feeling more hopeless than ever before. At this rate, she’d never make it back to her son. Pessimism was one of Regina’s main character traits, and it was pouring from her like a geyser in that moment.

Light footsteps echoed up the steps before the queen had even taken a single book from a shelf. She prayed to any god that may exist that it would be anyone but Robin. The last thing she needed was that man distracting her from what really mattered; Henry.

Miraculously, Regina’s prayers were answered. The footsteps stopped suddenly and the queen turned to see a young woman’s weak smile and vibrant blue eyes.

“Tink!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“You’re not the only person allowed to be stubborn around here,” said the fairy. “And I’ve been resting for nearly three hours, that’s far too long to be trapped in one spot.”

Tink’s expression was happy, but Regina could see the tired bags under her eyes and the way she wobbled slightly, even standing still. Tink’s dress had lost its brilliant green color below an inch of dust and dirt, making her look dreary. Her blonde hair had fallen out of its usual bun into a loose ponytail. She had a maroon harlequin quilt wrapped around her shoulders and her feet were bare.

“You look awful.” Regina admitted. “I think you should go back to sleep, or at the very least sit down.”

The fairy nodded, moving toward the table and pulling out a chair.

Regina forgot momentarily about searching for spellbooks and sat beside her friend.

“Are you alright?” the queen asked.

Tink nodded slightly. “I’m fine.” She sighed at looked Regina in the eye. “But are you?”

Regina was taken aback. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because I failed.” Tink pulled on the thin quilt around her. “I couldn’t get the cup. You were relying on me and I failed. Now how are we to feed these people?”

“That’s not for you to worry about.” assured Regina. “We’ve been managing while you were gone, I’m sure we can keep it up for a while longer.”

“At what risk?” asked Tink, looking worried. “Regina you can’t provide for three hundred people on your own, eventually your magic will eat away at you until you’re just a pile of ash.”

Regina hesitated for a moment. “One hundred and eighty-one,” she said.

“What?” questioned the fairy.

“There are one hundred and eighty-one people left,” repeated Regina. “The number’s dropped since you were gone.”

Tink’s stomach knotted itself so hard that she thought she would be sick. “No. No, it couldn’t have dropped that low so quickly.”

“It’s been five months, Tink.” Regina said, no emotion evident in her voice. “Yes, it has.”

“Bloody hell…” mumbled the fairy, horror striking in her heart. “Who – who were the casualties?”

Regina had seen the question coming, but still dreaded answering it. She kept her eyes trained on the empty table in front of her, refusing to look at Tink.

“Mulan. She was the first, sacrificed herself to protect Aurora and Phillip from an attack by the flying monkeys.” God, Regina hated saying that. Good people being killed by as idiotic and worthless creatures as monkeys. “But Phillip died a few minutes after her, leading Aurora to safety. An ogre clobbered him over the head and smashed his skull in.”

Tink flinched, tears welling in her eyes. “Go on,” she choked. Neither woman wanted anything more to be spoken, but they both knew the names had to be listed, that the death toll couldn’t continue on ignored.

“Two of the Dwarves, Sneezy and Bashful.” Regina said. “By monkeys.”

Tink nodded once.

“The hatter, Jefferson and his daughter, Grace.” The queen’s heart skipped a beat upon admitting the death of a child, the same age as her own son, not counting cursed years. “Grace was killed by trolls that the Witch recruited. They snuck into their cottage while they slept. Jefferson heard Grace scream and ran to see what was wrong. When he found her body, he took his own life.”

Tears streamed down Tink’s face. They welled in Regina’s eyes too, but the queen didn’t allow any of them to fall.

“Charming,” Regina said after a moment of silence, “was killed by the Witch herself. Gave him a sword to the chest.” She took in a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for her next words. “Snow White took an arrow.”

Tink gasped through her tears, looking up to see streaks of liquid falling down the brunette’s face. “Snow?”

Regina could only nod.

“Why don’t you go back to bed, I’ll find someone to give you the rest of the list.” The queen evaded, standing quickly and hurrying to the stairs to leave. “I think I need some rest myself.”

\- - -

At nightfall, Roland had sought out Regina. “Will you tuck me in?” his small voice requested.

“Sure,” said the queen, “but where’s your father? I thought he usually tucks you into bed.”

Roland shrugged his little shoulders.

Furrowing her brow, the queen wondered where the outlaw may have run off to. It wasn’t like Robin to not tell his son goodnight.

Nonetheless, Regina let Roland pull her by the hand to the cot that he slept on. He crawled under his covers and made himself comfortable. Regina smiled at him and pulled his blanket up to his neck. She gently tucked the covers in around him while Roland watched intently.

“Regina?” He said softly.

She looked up at him. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Why does you have to leave?” questioned Roland, frowning as a tear collected in his eye.

“Oh, Roland…” She wiped the tear from his face and gave him a smile. “What makes you think I’m leaving?”

“Daddy said you has to find somebody.” He answered. “He said that you wanted to go because you have a little boy like me.”

The queen sighed. “Well, yes, I do,” she admitted. “My son, Henry. I lost him and I’m trying to get back to him.”

“Do you miss Henry?” asked Roland.

“Yes,” admitted Regina, “More than anything.”

“Is my Mama looking for me too?” the little boy asked innocently. “Like you’re looking for Henry?”

This again. Regina should have seen it coming. Roland was only a five year old boy who missed his mother and couldn’t comprehend the fact that she wasn’t going to return; Regina couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. Perhaps it was her own fault, for showing him that vision of his mother and father in the crystal ball. For giving him false hope.

“Maybe,” Regina said. “I’m sure she wants to see you.”

“I know, but where did she go?” asked Roland, confused. “Why is she in another land? Why didn’t she stay with me and Daddy?”

“Roland, you have to understand that sometimes people have to leave.” She said firmly. “Sometimes they just have to go, even if they don’t want to.”

“Like you and Henry?” he asked.

“Exactly like me and Henry,” Regina confirmed. “I didn’t want to leave him, but I had to so that he would be safe.”

Roland nodded slowly. “Okay.”

The queen let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Okay. Now, it’s time for you to go to sleep.” Regina leaned forward and kissed her forehead lightly.

“Regina?” called Roland softly before she could get up to leave.

“What is it, Roland?” asked Regina.

The boy said his words quietly and with a slight smile. “I hope you find Henry. Maybe you and me can still play sometimes, though. You and me and Henry and Daddy.”

Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his innocent comment. “Sure, Roland. I’d like that.”

But she wasn’t lying.

\- - -

_“Wake up, your Majesty,” came a male voice echoing through Regina’s ears._

_The queen’s eyes fluttered open and she took in her surroundings. She lay upon some sort of thin mattress on the ground, the right side of her head throbbing inside her skull._

_Regina could, however, recognize the room. The burgundy walls and drapes darkened the room but also made it feel warmer, safer. The great hall of the Dark One’s palace. Sunlight streaked in past the curtains directly into Regina’s eyes; she was lying on her mat against the wall, right under the window._

_“Good God, I was beginning to think you’d never get up,” said the voice, kind and soft._

_Regina sat up and squinted as she looked for the source of the words. She saw a man dressed in forest green, with sandy blond hair and blue eyes; he was the hooded archer that had come to her aid in the woods. “How did I get here?” Regina asked, “Who the hell are you?”_

_The man gave her a cocky smile. “Name’s Robin. As for how you arrived here,” he knelt down to be at eye level with her, “I’m afraid you took a fair blow to your temple and were rendered unconscious. I carried you here before the Witch sent reinforcements for her vicious little army. You’re quite fortunate, you know. Had one of the beasts carried you off, who knows what the Witch might’ve done.”_

_“Robin? As in Robin Hood?” Regina inquired, trying to ignore the thought of being carried unconscious into Rumplestiltskin’s castle. She wasn’t fond of being carried, unconscious, or in the Dark One’s palace. Especially not if this truly was the Robin Hood, notorious bandit and the so-called Prince of Thieves._

_“I see that my reputation precedes me.” Robin smirked. “As yours does for you, your Majesty. My, have I heard stories about you, the Evil Queen, casting a curse upon all magic realms for revenge on a young girl.”_

_Regina scoffed. “Don’t rush to judge me, bandit.” She carefully lifted herself to her feet, head aching and pounding from her injury. The queen looked the man square in the eyes. “It’d be quite hypocritical, coming from a thief, known far and wide for being a cunning, murderous robber and vigilante.”_

_Robin raised an eyebrow, but the corner of his mouth rose as well in a smile. “Fair point. I’ll set the record straight by saying I did not commit murder by any means, and I am certainly no thief.”_

_The queen crossed her arms defiantly. “So you didn’t steal thousands of pounds of gold and treasures from Prince John? It all magically vanished and appeared in the pockets of the citizens?”_

_“It ended in the hands of its rightful owners.” Robin corrected. “I simply removed the currency from the ownership of the wicked who had stolen it. A thief steals for himself m’lady, which I never have.”_

_The outlaw was a fair few inches taller than her, and Regina didn’t like it. It made her feel small and intimidated, which she most definitely was not. “I don’t think it’s your place to decide who is worthy of wealth and who is not,” she said._

_“I don’t think it’s your place to curse hundreds of thousands of innocents due to your hatred for a perfectly wonderful girl,” Robin retorted. “who, now that I’m mentioning it, has been checking in on you all day to make sure you were alright.”_

_Regina’s eyes flickered for a moment. “You have no right to make assumptions about me and my character, Hood.”_

_“Nor do you of mine.” He bit. “Now why don’t I go find your dear Snow White and inform her that you’re awake?” Robin turned on his heel and headed for the hall, calling back to Regina. “She’s been worried.”_

_Regina flared her nostrils as she watched Robin exit, raising her palm to her temple to feel a goose egg that had formed just above it. She had a feeling she hadn’t seen the last of the Prince of Thieves, and that he would only be worse in the days that came._

\- - -

As she left Roland’s bedroom, Regina knew she had to find Robin and see what was going on. He’d always tucked Roland in, even on the nights he was out hunting or guarding their camp from attackers.

She asked around among the Merry Men, inquiring as to where the outlaw had run off to. There were only five of Robin’s band left, including himself. It saddened Regina to know that he’d lost nearly a dozen of his closest friends, but she knew Robin had made peace with it.

Nobody knew where the thief had gone to. Regina finally decided to head outside and search herself.

She wandered for about thirty minutes until she heard a large splashing sound coming from the creek downhill from her. Regina recognized Robin’s silhouette seated on the grass by the water and made her way toward him.

Robin could hear the crunching sound of approaching footsteps and he turned to the noise. “M’lady,” he nodded to the queen curtly, “what are you doing out here?”

The wind of the night was chill and it bit at Regina’s skin. The moon reflected off of the rippling surface of the creek, illuminating Robin’s features as he looked to her.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt, a fact that Regina found both odd and distracting. She was freezing despite being completely dressed, how wasn’t he?

“I was looking for you,” she finally answered. “Roland’s in bed, you didn’t tuck him in.”

Robin looked back at the creek with a sigh. “I’m sorry, I’ll go to him now…” he said, standing up.

“There’s no need, I already did.” Regina stopped him.

The outlaw looked up from the ground to her. “Oh. Well, thank you,” said Robin hesitantly. “I’m sorry I wasn’t –“

“You don’t need to apologize to me,” interrupted Regina. “if you need to apologize to anyone, it’s Roland.” She watched him as he hung his head, looking defeated. “And besides, Roland didn’t seem to mind.”

Robin stood directly in front of her, close enough that she could reach out and touch him but far enough that it wasn’t overly intimate. She wasn’t happy to be outside in this cold, but decided that whatever was wrong with Robin needed to be resolved.

Why, though? thought Regina. Why does it matter if his problems are handled or not?

Because he needs to be there for Roland, she convinced herself. She was lying to her own mind, but Regina forced herself to take it as truth. Anything other than that, there would be a more serious issue that whatever Robin was facing now.

“Why are you out here?” The queen asked, looking to him.

Robin rubbed his hand over his face, but remained looking at the water. “I needed to think. Alone.”

“What could you possibly be thinking about that would keep you from tucking in your son?” she snapped.

One corner of his mouth turned up in a sad smile. “You.”

Regina’s mouth opened in shock as well as to reply, but she found herself speechless. Robin was staring at her now, absentmindedly cracking his knuckles to give his hands something to do.

“I…but…why would you be –“ she was cut off by the outlaw answering the question she hadn’t finished asking.

“I haven’t the faintest idea.” Robin said. “But no matter what I do, my mind always comes back around to you.” He shook his head slightly. “It’s mad, I know. You’re a stubborn pain in the ass and I can’t bloody stop thinking about you.”

Regina was taken aback. “I don’t think that –“

“Please just stop talking for one bloody moment and let me finish.” Robin said. His voice came low from his throat, like the words had gotten stuck there and he was forcing them out. “You’ve overtaken my every thought, Regina. I’ve been searching myself to figure out why and I’ve come to the only conclusion that makes sense.”

Regina swallowed, waiting for him to say it.

The outlaw took a step forward, closing the distance between them. Both of his hands cupped her face softly while the anticipation slowly built.

“Regina, I love you,” said Robin with a smile.

At his words, Regina’s eyes flickered away from his. That’s when she saw it; a patch of black ink surrounding the intricate details of a lion on Robin’s right forearm. She looked back to his face, then to the tattoo again. As everything clicked together in my mind, Regina violently shoved the thief away from her, stumbling backward.

This couldn’t be true.

It couldn’t be him.

“Regina…” He said her name softly, with a questioning expression. Damn it, he’d ruined it. He’d ruined everything.

She doesn’t love me back, thought Robin, gritting his teeth to keep himself from speaking. If she didn’t reciprocate his feelings, nothing he could say could change that. Talking would only make this worse for him, more awkward.

“No.” Regina spat. She looked like a blend of emotions; shock, anger, sadness. “Just…no.” With that, she turned away from him and ran back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that concludes our story! I know there are a lot of questions left unanswered, and I suppose it's a bit unorthodox for me to leave them that way. But I feel like this is the perfect place to end, with endless possibilities and lots of plausible explanations to come up with! Thank you very much for reading!


	3. Making a Statement

 It was Tink who approached her.

Regina was one of the fortunate few who had their own bedroom in Rumplestiltskin’s palace. It was not nearly as grand as she’d have liked, but it sure beat lying on a thin mattress on the hard, cold tile floors. Feeding their entire population had its perks, it seemed.

She had sought out solace in her room, seated on her bed and lost in thought. Thought of Robin, of his tattoo, of that night at the tavern when she had given up her chance at happiness. At true love.

Tink’s fist tapped the door lightly, but the fairy didn’t wait for an answer before entering.

“I thought I might find you here,” she said. The bags under Tink’s eyes were less noticeable than earlier, but she still looked tired.

“Well, it is my room,” remarked the queen. She was in no mood to talk to anyone, much less Tinkerbell, about her situation.

Tink took a seat at the end of Regina’s bed. “Did something happen between you and Robin?” she asked.

“What?” Regina replied in shock. No one had overheard Robin by the creek earlier, had they? Or seen them that morning in the library?

“He’s in the Great Hall pacing back and forth, looking like a bird that fell out of its nest,” the fairy explained. “You were looking for him earlier, weren’t you? Did something happen?”

Regina released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She shook her head. “No. Not exactly,” she lied.

“Well, do you know what’s wrong with him? John’s worried and said Robin wouldn’t tell him anything,” asked Tink.

“What makes you think I would know anything?” Regina spat. “I’m not his keeper, I don’t keep tabs on him at all times.”

“Sorry,” said Tink. She sounded more offended at Regina’s rude response than actually apologetic. “I just know you were asking around for him and I wasn’t sure. No need to be so offended by it.”

Regina sighed. “I…I’m sorry.” The queen apologized.

“What’s wrong?” asked the fairy. “You look like you’re hiding something.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” Regina lied again. “I’d like to be alone.”

Tink remained seated, examining her friend’s face. She wasn’t making eye contact. “You _are_ hiding something!” She scooted closer to Regina. “You can tell me, I can keep a secret.”

“It’s none of your concern,” spat the queen. “Now leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Regina, not this time,” the blonde said defiantly. “You’re going to tell me what you’re hiding. If it takes me staying here for a week, I’m going to find out.”

Regina flared her nostrils and gave a deep sigh. “The man,” she began, “with the lion tattoo, from the tavern all those year ago?”

Tink nodded, waiting for her to continue.

“It’s Robin.”

The fairy gasped and broke out in a huge smile. “I bloody knew it!”

Regina was shocked. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“I _knew_ he liked you. Now I know why.” Tink was positively beaming. “Regina, this is your second chance! Or, more accurately, your second second chance.”

“What?” Regina exclaimed. “No, I don’t _want_ this. The man from the tavern, he’s supposed to be gone. And _Robin_ …” she sighed, “he’s an _outlaw_. He lost his wife, has a child and he smells of forest.”

“Why should that matter?” Tink inquired. “You’ve lost Daniel, you have Henry. There’s no difference, really.” The fairy grinned even wider, if that was possible. “But Regina, it’s true love. I’ve seen how he looks at you. He feels it.”

Regina looked at her hands folded in her lap. “I know. He told me.”

“He _told_ you?” Tink practically jumped. “He _told_ you that he loves you? When?”

“About an hour ago.” Regina admitted. “He told me, then I saw his tattoo and I ran.”

“You ran from him?” asked the fairy, shocked. “Regina, no wonder he’s so upset! Go to him, tell him how you feel!”

“How I feel?” echoed the queen, eyebrows knitting together as she looked at her friend. “And hhow precisely do you think I feel?”

“You love him, too,” said Tink, as if it were obvious. “Don’t you?”

Regina’s stomach tightened and she felt like she might be sick. Did she? No, that would be absurd. Robin Hood was the most arrogant, rude, insufferable ass she’d ever met. There was no way she loved him.

But then she began to really consider the possibility.

She remembered every encounter she’d ever had with the thief. About those stupid shit-eating grins he’d give her, dimples showing and the corners of his eyes scrunching up as he laughed. She thought about how he acted around Roland; that little boy was his whole world. She remembered everything he’d ever said to her.

_“Perhaps I simply wanted the pleasure of your company.”_

_“I've seen it, when you thought no one was looking. The way your eyes light up when you talk about your son...”_

_“It’s just so difficult to get your attention.”_

_“You’re a stubborn pain in the ass and I can’t bloody stop thinking about you.”_

_“Regina, I love you.”_

Did she reciprocate those feelings? She kept telling herself the same thing over and over again, but it was no use. Because from its spot buried in far end of her mind, the thought broke free and hit Regina like a brick wall.

She did.

 

_\- - -_

_Regina sat near the corner of the Great Hall, silently watching everyone pass by. She’d lost Henry just a week before; the grief still turned her stomach and made her heart ache. Being in Rumplestiltskin’s castle with Snow White and her_ charming _prince and that damn aggravating bandit, Robin Hood, was an insult to the injury._

_The so-called Wicked Witch of the West had arrived outside the castle doors that morning ordering them to surrender Regina or face immeasurable pain. Needless to say, she was still safe inside the Dark One’s castle._

_Regina had cast an enchantment upon their fortress so that no one could enter from the outside, effectively keeping the Witch out but likewise forcing everyone else to remain inside._

_“Are you the queen?” said a small voice from her right._

_She turned to see a little boy with curly black hair, olive skin and wide brown eyes. He looked to be around four._

_“Yes,” she answered. Regina raised an eyebrow, looking over the boy. “Who are you?”_

_“I’m Roland,” he said with a grin. “Did you make all the purple smoke come?”_

_Purple smoke? Oh, yes, the curse. “Yes. Yes, I suppose I did,” said Regina. “What are you doing here, Roland?”_

_“I’m waiting for my Daddy,” answered Roland. “He tolded me that you were the queen who made the smoke come.”_

_“Did he now?” Regina said, irritated. “Was that all?”_

_“No,” Roland shook his head. “He said that you were a fem-futell. What’s that?”_

_She narrowed her eyes for a moment before deciphering his words. “You mean a femme fatale?”_

_“Yes! That’s what he said,” Roland nodded. “What does that mean?”_

_Regina let out a laugh. “Well,” she explained with a loose translation that the boy would understand. “It means a woman who tricks people so that she can hurt them.”_

_“Oh.” Roland thought for a moment. “Are you gonna hurt me?” he asked, his voice a whisper._

_“No,” said Regina. “No, I’m not.”_

_“Okay.” Roland smiled. “Will you play with me?”_

_The queen looked around. She’d expected someone to come bursting into the room, screaming that she needed to step away from the child, but no one had. Regina knew she wasn’t the most trustworthy person in the castle, and surely nobody would allow their child to be alone with her._

_“I thought you were waiting for your father?” remarked Regina._

_Roland nodded. “He’ll be here soon, but will you play dragons with me until he gets here?” He pulled a wooden sword from his belt loop and showed it to her._

_The queen hesitantly took it and examined it. She remembered seeing Henry in the park, playing with a sword just like it with his father, Neal. The memory pained her to think about, the ache of losing him to Emma forever ate away at her heart until she was sure she was as heartless as her mother had been._

_But Roland looked at her with big, hopeful eyes and she finally accepted._

 

\- - -

 

The words “I love you” were not ones that escaped Regina’s lips often. She’d said them, yes, to Daniel, her parents, to Henry more than anyone else. But to think about Robin Hood, infamous prince of thieves, in the context of love felt different.

She considered her encounters with the outlaw; how he’d nearly shot her in the head trying to get her attention, how he’d give her that cocky smile and a suggestive wink before he left a room. How his lips had felt on hers.

Perhaps it was the memory of their kiss that very same morning that drove the queen down the stairs and into the main corridor where she saw Robin, looking down solemnly but thankfully wearing a shirt this time.

“Regina, I’m -” Robin began to explain himself for earlier but was cut off as Regina roughly grabbed his collar and yanked him toward her and sealed their lips in a kiss.

The outlaw was quite confused. However, he wasn’t going to turn down another chance to kiss that wonderful, aggravating, beautiful woman that he’d fallen in love with.

The heated moment was broken apart when the need for oxygen became too great and they slowly pulled away from each other, panting.

Regina smiled up at him, still gripping his collar firmly. “I love you too, bandit.”

He beamed.

\- - -

Tinkerbell never considered herself to be an easy fairy to shock. After all, spending a couple decades in Neverland where random teenagers falling from the sky was a daily occurrence sort of desensitized you to surprises. But she would be lying if she said she expected to stumble upon The Evil Queen and The Prince of Thieves sucking on each other’s faces in the garden like hormonal teenagers.   
  
“Well, it’s about damn time,” said the fairy, “but you guys really should get a room.”   
  
Regina was the first to pull away, “Tink - I - we were -” she stuttered.   
  
“For all intents and purposes, we thought we’d be alone out here,” said Robin. Regina blushed fiercely.   
  
“Don’t worry about it,” Tinkerbell insisted. “I’ve walked in on worse at convent.” Robin laughed. “I’m not joking,” said the fairy.  
  
Robin rubbed his hand over the stubble of his chin, grinning, “Tink, would you do me a favor and ask Little John if Roland can stay in his room tonight?” he asked.   
  
“Of course,” Tink winked, “you two have fun!”   
  
The fairy strutted off, a smug smile on her face. Her work here was done. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!


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